Henry Edward Catto, Jr. (1930-2011) was born in Dallas and graduated from Williams
College in 1952. After a brief career in his family’s insurance business he entered
politics. Though soundly defeated in bids for a seat in the Texas Legislature in
1960 and 1961, Catto used these experiences as a springboard for a three-decade
career in public service in the Republican Party. He was selected by President
Richard Nixon as deputy representative to the Organization of American States in
1969, and two years later as ambassador to El Salvador. He later became White House
chief of protocol from 1974 to 1976 and served as representative to the United
Nations in Geneva from 1976 to 1977, both under President Gerald Ford. Ronald Reagan
appointed Catto assistant secretary of defense for public affairs from 1981 to 1983.
Then after two years as ambassador to Britain, he became director of the United
States Information Agency from 1991 to 1993 under President George Bush. He died in
San Antonio in 2011.